News & Views

To boost brand value, choose branded content, not internet ads

Calvin Ayre talks about building brand value through quality, branded content instead of online advertising. Bodog and its associated brands, BodogFight, BodogMusic, Calvin Ayre WildCard Poker are testaments to the effectiveness of branded content. This article was originally published on CalvinAyre.com on December 11, 2010.

According to a new survey conducted by Adweek Media and Harris Interactive, almost two-thirds (63%) of Americans claim to ignore internet advertising. In terms of the type of internet ads that garner the most scorn (and the least amount of eyeballs), banner ads were routinely ignored by 43% of responders, while 20% said they pay the least amount of attention to search engine advertising.

Those figures look even worse when compared with other forms of media advertising, such as television ads (ignored by 14%), radio (7%) and newspapers (6%). The 9% who claim that they don’t ignore any of these forms of advertising presumably (a) have way too much free time on their hands, or (b) have their eyelids forcibly held open like Malcolm McDowell in A Clockwork Orange.

The data in this survey highlights the folly of any company attempting to build brand value predominantly via online advertising. Seriously, the only people getting rich off this arrangement are the companies who get paid to host the ads. Not for nothing do people say ‘content is king’. The branded content I’ve created over the years for the Bodog Brand and its associated entertainment properties – BodogFight, BodogMusic, Calvin Ayre WildCard Poker — not only made a significantly greater impression on viewers than a plain old banner or pop-up ad, it continues to resonate years after its initial release, and will continue to do so for however long digital media exists.

Quality editorial content is another high-value method of building your brand. My appearances on VH1’s Fabulous Life and MTV Cribs got loads of play upon their initial release, and continue to get the brand message across every time someone bangs my name into a search engine. Of course, it helps that the Bodog Brand’s message is universal, eternal and not subject to the whims of marketing gurus.

On that note, be sure to catch my upcoming appearance in the January issue of Playboy magazine, (available late December 2010 — just ahead of the NFL playoffs). Score!